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I'm stuck on that treeish boss in Lost Izalith. All the skills and equipment I've acquired are now completely irrelevant as I'm reduced to instant death platforming. Sometimes I can smash the first orange root if I'm absurdly lucky, but the second one might as well be on Pluto.

Kadayi: You don't need to roll or jump when exiting the elevator, literally stepping off it is fine. And yeah, there is a ridiculously easy way to beat that boss. I didn't see it first time either because it's hopelessly arbitrary. I'd probably never have found it on my own in fact, a friend told me after I was bitching what a pain in the ass that boss was (having beaten it the hard way).

Oshada: There is no one item that can cast both. There is however a talisman that runs off intelligence and a catalyst that runs off faith. Not particularly helpful with regard to slots, but it helps with the stats.

Drake: Each root stays dead even if you die, so when you smash one, quit to main menu and load back in, you'll be outside the fog gate again and the root will stay smashed. Saves you the trip back to the middle area. That boss annoyed me something chronic too, mostly with the basically undodgable Firestorm spells he casts (or at least undodgable when you're standing on a narrow platform with his other attacks stopping you just legging it). Don't worry though, after the two roots you have one more target to destroy. As for reaching the second root, just equip a decent 100% resist shield and tank out the hits. Should work given that it doesn't hit very often.

For the elevator, I died about 5 times tying to get off when the platform is flush/above the exit.
The real way to get off is to do it at the peak, when you are stood on top of the mechanism.

DLC is done, died once on each boss after Artorias... and summoning in help.

Did Arty solo, notes below.

I hate that jump attack. I hate it I hate it I hate it. It is the only attack that dealt damage to me (other than when I was trying to Est after getting hit by it).
Once I hated it enough, I decided to get in close and just poke him to death. Pummeled him during the charge sequence, he never got one off.
Took me about 6 tries, won when I started rushing him.

Nito down, only got Izalith to do and then on to Gwyn. Currently at SL90, don't need to go any higher now. A fair bit of it comes from me buffing up to use the Greatsword of Artorias (Cursed) and Gough's bow. Which is badass.

I hate that jump attack. I hate it I hate it I hate it. It is the only attack that dealt damage to me (other than when I was trying to Est after getting hit by it).

I found the jump attack was very easy to dodge. Most of the times I didn't even dodge, just kept strafing to the right with my shield up and wait for the time to counter-attack.
I'm now done with Jake & Elwood on my NG+. I remembered super-fatty more difficult than he was in the end. I only got hit once by him, which was good since I ran out of estus due to some (accidental) cuddling in a corner earlier and one of those annoying sentinels hitting me on my way in. Now I'm pondering if I should go Dark Lord on this playthrough and discuss matters with Kate instead of Fran.

For the elevator, I died about 5 times tying to get off when the platform is flush/above the exit.
The real way to get off is to do it at the peak, when you are stood on top of the mechanism.

DLC is done, died once on each boss after Artorias... and summoning in help.

Did Arty solo, notes below.

I hate that jump attack. I hate it I hate it I hate it. It is the only attack that dealt damage to me (other than when I was trying to Est after getting hit by it).
Once I hated it enough, I decided to get in close and just poke him to death. Pummeled him during the charge sequence, he never got one off.
Took me about 6 tries, won when I started rushing him.

Nito down, only got Izalith to do and then on to Gwyn. Currently at SL90, don't need to go any higher now. A fair bit of it comes from me buffing up to use the Greatsword of Artorias (Cursed) and Gough's bow. Which is badass.

With Artorias, do you mean the three jumps in a row or the single powerful long ranged one? Regardless, I found them all to be very easily dodged. And to be honest Nito is easy so long as you have a divine weapon to put down those skeletons for good, not sure I want to imagine fighting him any other way.

I meant the latter, crouch jump. It seemed to have awfully good tracking when I tried to midroll dodge it.

Nito was indeed easy. Divine Demon Machete took all three down in one hit. Didn't approach the Giant skeletons, after I ran into them first time round.
I just straight up tanked him. Dodged the grab and one the groundblade he did, but aside from that just blocked and countered. He leaves massive gaps between attacks: I was managing to get off three Demon Spear strikes at some attacks.
His magic damage wasn't incredible, so Giant Shield took the brunt of it. Still had to quaff a few times.
I had a harder time with the (relentless, hard hitting) skeleton dog beasts, until I learnt I could Dragon Tooth jump attack from out of their aggro range and one shot them.

Taking a detour down to Ash Lake. Was surprised that I could straight up tank the Hydra, with all its heads and size and whatnot.

Also gave the structured PvP a go. If you're thinking about it, ask yourself: Do I like Grass Crest Shield, Crystal Magic Weapon and backstab fishing? If not, it may not be the place for you.
An arena without backstab/crystal magic weapon would be interesting to see, to see what tactics would come out of it, but nobody would use it...

I meant the latter, crouch jump. It seemed to have awfully good tracking when I tried to midroll dodge it.

Nito was indeed easy. Divine Demon Machete took all three down in one hit. Didn't approach the Giant skeletons, after I ran into them first time round.
I just straight up tanked him. Dodged the grab and one the groundblade he did, but aside from that just blocked and countered. He leaves massive gaps between attacks: I was managing to get off three Demon Spear strikes at some attacks.
His magic damage wasn't incredible, so Giant Shield took the brunt of it. Still had to quaff a few times.
I had a harder time with the (relentless, hard hitting) skeleton dog beasts, until I learnt I could Dragon Tooth jump attack from out of their aggro range and one shot them.

Taking a detour down to Ash Lake. Was surprised that I could straight up tank the Hydra, with all its heads and size and whatnot.

Also gave the structured PvP a go. If you're thinking about it, ask yourself: Do I like Grass Crest Shield, Crystal Magic Weapon and backstab fishing? If not, it may not be the place for you.
An arena without backstab/crystal magic weapon would be interesting to see, to see what tactics would come out of it, but nobody would use it...

Ah, the trick with that crouch jump is to dodge late, you need to dodge about a half-second later than it feels safe to do so and he'll miss you cleanly. The tracking period of the move is right up until his final downward approach. I just gave Nito the runaround, his magic doesn't hit very hard for how slow it is and he's such a fatty it's easy to avoid his frontal arc. Then I just stabbed him to death with Sunlight Blade with +15 Ricard's Rapier.

Ah the Ash Lake, one of the many places in DS that had my jaw drop because the scenery is just so damn epic. That is one thing the devs have really outdone themselves with, making a world so large that you feel really small.

Incidentally, I pretty much do all the bosses solo, bar the occasional NPC helper. I find it so unreliably to actually summon people it isn't worth the effort, maybe one time in every 20 I try summoning it'll actually work. So I'm resigned to simply doing the bosses 'properly'.

So much co-op today (I'm running around with 22 held humanity which is just absurd tbh). Still grinded the Pyromancy glove upto +15 and all the spells (that I'm aware of). If I never have to fight Queelag again it won't be too soon though (so much circling). Amazes me that you get people invading in Blighttown though (aside from Mildred) because anyone with any sense has summoned in some support already, and running through all that gunk isn't doing anyone any favours.

Anyhows. Looking for advice on where to go stats wise with my character: -

Weapon wise I'm using the Balder Sword +10, Longbow +10 (I like kiting things) and I'm running around in the gold hemmed armour set, though I have a most of the clothing and shields available. Albeit I've the pyromancy upgraded, I've not really been using it much saves when farming slimes. Partly because I need to train myself to put it on the sword hand Vs the bow (bad habit from my other playthroughs tbh) so I've still got the shield for blocking. Baby steps, but I'm getting there.

I've rung the two bells but have to go through Sens fortress. Also still need to head back to undead asylum and get the doll and maybe fight the new boss

Although I'm at 37, I've generally been working on getting better equipment more often than not. Pumping dex seemed to be the most sensible option. However I think I've probably taken that as far as I need to for now. Anyway, if anyone has any build recommendations that would be appreciated.

I find it so unreliably to actually summon people it isn't worth the effort, maybe one time in every 20 I try summoning it'll actually work. So I'm resigned to simply doing the bosses 'properly'.

There's a magic ring that lets you move at normal speed in places you would otherwise be slowed down. I think you return to the Asylum to get it. It's handy in the Blighttown swamp, but you'll want it going into Sen's anyway.

There's a magic ring that lets you move at normal speed in places you would otherwise be slowed down. I think you return to the Asylum to get it. It's handy in the Blighttown swamp, but you'll want it going into Sen's anyway.

I went back earlier on to trade some gear with snuggly and grabbed the crest shield from our hollowed friend and the rusted ring from behind the locked door (skirted the main hall area ). I couldn't even imagine how nightmarish running around the blighttown swamp is without it (yet a lot of people do).

When I played the first time I didn't know that it's possible to get back to the asylum until I was almost done with the game. A lot of people did the poison swamp without ring and it worked out alright. You can always take the long way round, across the small patches of land between all the poison. I guess thanks to wikis and yt-let's play's a lot of new players never have fisticuffs with the rock throwers.

@Kadayi @Stats: look alright, I'd put more points in endurance but that's personal preference. I generally have endurance as high as my primary damage attribute (until 40). Balder Side Sword goes really well with weapon enchants, hence I'd go for Int 15 or 25 to get greater magic weapon or crystal magic weapon. Balder Sword +15 + crystal magic weapon can tear some bosses to shreds so fast it's not even funny anymore. Increase vitality each time you feel like you're being one-shotted.

Edit: to illustrate, my current stats:
Strength is 22, because above dex 40 the damage scales better with Strength (diminishing returns). Vitality is just high enough that one attack from a boss doesn't kill me straight away (on NG+).

I still haven't done Quelaag - I'm SL 36, is that around the range for frequent summons? I like to get summoned before I do the boss myself (well, every boss so far except the Gaping Dragon because I had Solaire for that. I have a feeling Maneater Mildred might not be quite so useful :P).

Mildred ain't too bad actually, doesn't deal as much damage as Solaire, but does a fine job at tanking Queelag, plus she doesn't seem to take too much damage from the fire.

Yeah I'd say that having mildred along is worthwhile. I've phantomed against Queelag about 10 times now and it's always a lot easier if it's 3 rather than 2 because she tends to draw the ire more than most allowing you to get in close and put a few good body blows in before she does her AOE attack.

The only downside to phantoming is when the host doesn't understand you can't heal and they need to keep tabs on your health (had that a couple of times now..most vexing)

I still haven't done Quelaag - I'm SL 36, is that around the range for frequent summons? I like to get summoned before I do the boss myself (well, every boss so far except the Gaping Dragon because I had Solaire for that. I have a feeling Maneater Mildred might not be quite so useful :P)

Yeah you should be good around there. You want the rusty ring equipped and a bunch of the poison and toxin reducing herbs in your fast items for the journey there. Also have the dragon crest shield on you for the fight (though the spider one for getting across the swamp).

Actually I'd recommend to get Quelaag's attention and let Mildred do the damage. Otherwise she'll likely just go swim in the lava which usually stunlocks her for extended periods of time. All of Quelaag's attacks can be easily avoided just by rolling away from her anyway.

(well, every boss so far except the Gaping Dragon because I had Solaire for that. I have a feeling Maneater Mildred might not be quite so useful :P).

I found Mildred at Mrs. Special K more useful than Brolaire at the Gaping Dragon. Little Mr. Sunshine has the tendency to get himself killed within seconds, because he thinks the best battlefield strategy against a giant dragon is to run straight into his giant mouth and get eaten. The only NPC I still use on a regular basis is Iron Tarkus. So that I can watch him beating up the Iron Golem :)